ALTAMAHAW — For Boo Boo Dalton, a sense of home still emanates from victory lane at Ace Speedway.

There the Liberty driver was again Friday night, climbing out and flapping the checkered flag and slinging water triumphantly, putting his signature winning celebration on display after the completion of the 40-lap Limited Late Models feature.

“Feels good to be back home at Ace and leaving with a trophy,” he said. “It’s been an awesome year so far. So far so good.”

Dalton delivered his second victory in his second start here this season, a campaign in which his team has decided to travel and race at various short tracks throughout the region — venturing from Hickory to Asheboro to Garner and to South Carolina — rather than compete for another Ace points title.

The three-time division champion led the final 34 laps here Friday night and, in “just coming down here and marking my territory,” as he said, held off an increasingly stern challenge from runner-up Trevor Ward.

Winston-Salem’s Ward, a 16-year-old, gained ground in the closing laps and ultimately stalked Dalton during what appeared to be a somewhat anxious finish.

The front end of Ward’s No. 7 car banged the rear of Dalton’s No. 50 Chevrolet with a series of several shots in searching for a way to wrestle away the lead.

The most intense of that knocking contact came in turns three and four, with flagman Jeff Bunton waving the white flag to signify the start of the last lap.

“I think if I would’ve had a couple more laps, I think I could’ve got up beside him and given him a good run and hopefully took the win,” Ward said. “He’s a really good driver at holding his groove and it’s hard to drive up under him. You really have to give him a shove to get him out of the way and I don’t have that mentality. I want to race as clean as possible.”

Dalton, who won a whopping 14 times in 16 starts at Ace last season, said he wasn’t concerned about the raps from Ward.

“There was a little pressure there, but not that much,” Dalton said. “I knew that he wasn’t going to spin me out. We’ve been friends for quite a while now. Pretty awesome we come in one-two like that. He really showed good sportsmanship. He’s got more talent than most the people you race against.”

Haw River’s Jason Payne finished third among the 11-car field, followed by Calvin Meadows of Martinsville, Va., in fourth place and Winston-Salem’s Dylan Ward in fifth place.

Earlier in the night, Dalton posted the quickest qualifying time with a lap of 15.965 seconds. He started the race in fifth position after a standard inversion of the top qualifiers.

Page 2 of 3 - Meadows led the opening six laps from the pole position. Dalton then chose the cone on a double-file restart and rocketed past Meadows’ No. 07 car on the higher, outside line to grab the lead.

Dalton’s car navigated two more double-file restarts from there and stayed planted at the front for the duration.

“On the short run I had a pretty good car,” he said. “The car started off really good. I knew it was a little too good from the beginning. Got a little free on entry (into the track’s corners) throughout the race. The tires got hot and the brakes got hot.”

â–ª In the 30-lap Modifieds race, Brian KingÂ’s fourth victory in as many starts this season came by way of a different challenge Â– a starting spot at the back of the field.

Per speedway rules, the Gibsonville standout’s three straight wins to open the season relegated him to the last-place position on the 11-car starting grid. No matter, he climbed through traffic and led the final 16 laps after overtaking Gary Young Jr.

Burlington’s Young placed second and Corbett Ridge’s Thomas Scott, in the car typically driven by his father, finished third.

It was an explosive ending. King held a comfortable lead at the front of the field that suddenly evaporated during the last two laps. His said his No. 17 car picked up some trash or experienced a mechanical difficulty that sapped its power, allowing Young’s No. 45 car and Scott’s No. 8 to close on him in a hurry.

Then, with Young bearing down on him, King’s car responded and snapped back to its normal strength to pull away on the last lap.

That angered Young, who felt King had toyed with him and the rest of field. He showed his displeasure afterward, nudging his car against King’s and later barking at him when they exited their cars.

â–ª In the 50-lap Mini Stocks race, Jason Tutterow led from wire to wire and dominated in winning the supersized event for the division.

Middlesex’s Adam Murray finished second and Thomasville’s Michael Tucker placed third among the 15-car field that showed up for what was billed as “Mini Stock Mayhem.”

Tutterow’s lap of 18.070 seconds supplied the fastest qualifying effort. He started from the pole and wasn’t challenged after the opening laps.

The only drama for Tutterow came when Jason Cook’s No. 6 car bounced off the outside wall and stopped in the middle of the backstretch, forcing Tutterow to react quickly and zigzag to steer clear of the wrecked car.